Governor expands COVID-19 testing

Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced a new executive order Tuesday that expands the availability of coronavirus testing to anybody who has reason to be tested. The order also expands the number of sites where people can be tested.

The order allows people to get tested without first obtaining a doctor’s order as long as they meet some criteria:

• Are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms
• Have been exposed to someone who has been diagnosed with COVID-19
• Live in a group home, homeless shelter, nursing care facility, or other group living facility
• Have been working outside the home for ten days or more

You can find a testing site by visiting the state’s test-finder website or by calling the Michigan coronavirus hotline at (888) 535-6136.

New online tool

The governor also unveiled a new online dashboard for tracking COVID-19 indicators across the state.

The dashboard shows COVID-19 numbers for different regions and counties in the state and gives a risk assessment for each.

“The two goals of the dashboard are to assist public health officials in making state, regional and county-level decisions related to COVID-19, and to provide the general public with insight into some of the indicators that affect our public health decisions,” said Whitmer.

You can read more at MLive.